Untangled: Improve Efficiency with Modern Cable Choices

PRESENTATION TITLE GOES HERE

Untangled: Improve Efficiency with

Modern Cable Choices

Dennis Martin

President, Demartek

2 2015 Data Storage Innovation Conference. © Demartek All Rights Reserved.

Agenda

About Demartek

Why Discuss Cables and Connectors?

Cables

Copper

Fiber-Optic

Connectors

Demartek Free Resources


Demartek Video

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About Demartek

Industry Analysis and ISO 17025 accredited test lab

Lab includes servers, networking & storage

Ethernet: 1, 10 & 40 Gbps: NFS, SMB (CIFS), iSCSI,

FCoE and SR-IOV

Fibre Channel: 4, 8 & 16 Gbps

Servers: 8+ cores, large RAM

Virtualization: VMware, Hyper-V, Xen, KVM

We prefer to run real-world applications to test servers

and storage solutions (databases, Hadoop, etc.)

Website: www.demartek.com/TestLab

http://www.demartek.com/TestLab


Cabling is not as well known among IT staff

Some jurisdictions have cable-related ordinances

Often related to fire prevention

How long do you keep the following in service?

Servers

Storage systems

Network switches

Network cables

Why Discuss Cables and Connectors?

Many examples in this presentation show Ethernet

but can be and often are applied to other interfaces


Cable Life

Laying of network cables can be labor-intensive

Cable trays, inside walls, etc.

Fiber optic cabling service life: 15 – 20 years

Cable choices must meet existing needs and

future technology needs

What speeds of Ethernet, Fibre Channel, Infiniband,

SAS/SCSI & USB were you running 5, 10, 15 years ago?


Cable Options - Copper

Good for short distances

Same rack or nearby rack

Usually heavier and stiffer than fiber-optic cables

Transceiver or connector usually mounted on cable

Less expensive than equivalent fiber-optic solutions

Theft concern?


Cable Options – Fiber-Optic

Good for short, medium and long distances

Light weight

Thin

Use optical transceivers (optics)

Separate from cable

Generally better Bit Error Rates (BER) than copper

cables

Important for high speeds and long distances


Types of Copper Cables - DAC

Direct Attach Copper (DAC)

Multiple connector styles (CX, SFP, QSFP, etc.)

Passive

No additional power

Short lengths

Active

Additional power

Longer lengths

Used for Ethernet, Infiniband, SAS


Types of Copper Cables – BASE-T

Familiar RJ45 twisted-pair cables used for general

Ethernet at home and in the office

Different “categories” for different speeds

Cat5 – 100MbE and short-distance 1GbE*

Cat5e – 1GbE

Cat6 – 1GbE and short-distance 10GbE*

Cat6a – 10GbE

Cat7 – 10GbE

Cat8 – 40GbE (proposed standard)

* May not always work at this speed, YMMV


Types of Cables – Fiber-Optic

Mode: multi-mode and single mode

Indoor

Suitable for indoor applications

Outdoor

Also known as Outside Plant (OSP)

Water resistant (liquid and frozen)

Ultraviolet light resistant

Indoor/Outdoor

Similar to Outdoor

Added fire-retardant jacket, allowing deployment inside

building entrance beyond the OSP maximum distance


Connectors Today

Connector speeds: Today

Ethernet: 10Gbps per lane

Fibre-Channel: 16Gbps per lane

Infiniband: 14Gbps per lane

Higher speeds achieved in parallel

Ethernet: 40Gbps = 4 x 10Gbps, 100Gbps = 10 x 10Gbps

Infiniband: 56Gbps = 4 x 14Gbps (FDR)

Parallel speeds are sometimes known as “channel

bonded” solutions


Connectors - Future

New 25/28G connectors

28 Gigabaud signaling rates

Ethernet – 25Gbps per lane (1, 2, 4 and 10 lanes)

Fibre Channel – 32Gbps per lane (1 and 4 lanes)

Infiniband – 25Gbps per lane (4 lanes)


25Gb PHYs are beginning to appear

Why not 25GbE over single-lane connection?

25G Ethernet Consortium Announcement – July 1, 2014

Arista Networks, Broadcom, Google, Mellanox and Microsoft

25GbE and 50GbE specifications, Draft 1.4 – Sept. 2014

www.25GEthernet.org

IEEE has announced a 25GbE study group – July 2014

Server interconnects – backplane, copper cable, multimode fiber

http://www.ieee802.org/3/by/index.html

Standard completion target date: Sept. 2016

Ethernet 25GigE

http://www.25gethernet.org/

http://www.ieee802.org/3/by/index.html


Connector Types for Ethernet

Lanes Max. Speed per

lane (Gbps)

Max. Speed

total (Gbps) Cable Type Usage

CX4 4 2.5, 5 10, 20 Copper 10GbE

RJ45 1 1, 10 1, 10 Copper 1GbE, 10GbE

SFP 1 1 1 Copper, Optical 1GbE

SFP+ 1 10 10 Copper, Optical 10GbE

QSFP 4 5 20 Copper, Optical Various

QSFP+ 4 10 40 Copper, Optical 40GbE

CXP 10, 12 10 100, 120 Copper 100GbE

CFP 10 10 100 Optical 100GbE

MTP/MPO 6 or 12 10 120 Optical 40GbE, 100GbE

Some of these connector types can be used for other

interfaces such as Fibre Channel or Infiniband. In those

cases, the maximum speed per lane may be different.


Copper Cable Lengths


Ethernet Connectors


Connector Diagrams

QSFP, QSFP+

4 lanes

CX4

4 lanes

CXP

10 or 12 lanes

SFP, SFP+

1 lane


10GbE SFP-style Cable Comparison

10GbE Copper DAC

OM1 with LC connector

OM3 with LC connector


QSFP/QSFP+ Example

QSFP+ to 4-SFP+

breakout


MPT Example

MPT (12 fibers) to 6-LC breakout


Various Designations – 10GbE

10GBASE-T – 10GbE with RJ45

10GBASE-CX4 – 10GbE with DAC (4-lane CX)

10GBASE-CR – 10GbE with DAC (SFP+)

10GBASE-SR – 10GbE with short range optics

Up to a few hundred meters

10GBASE-LR – 10GbE with long range optics

Up to 10KM

10GBASE-ER – 10GbE with extended range optics

Up to 40KM

10GBASE-ZR – 10GbE with long range optics

Up to 80KM – not an official standard


Ethernet Public Roadmap – March 2015

http://www.ethernetalliance.org/roadmap/

Development of four new speeds

began in 2014:

2.5 GbE, 5 GbE, 25 GbE, 400 GbE




SAS Mini-SAS HD connectors

Cables can be copper

or fiber-optic

See larger versions of these diagrams and information for other

storage interfaces on the Demartek Storage Interface

Comparison page:

http://www.demartek.com/Demartek_Interface_Comparison.html



USB 3.1 Type-C Cable & Connector


Cabling Recommendations Fiber Optic Cables (data center)

Recommendation: OM4 cables for current & future

OM1 OM2 OM3 OM4

Jacket color Orange Orange Aqua Aqua

1 Gb/s 300m 500m 860m –

2 Gb/s 150m 300m 500m –

4 Gb/s 70m 150m 380m 400m

8 Gb/s 21m 50m 150m 190m

10 Gb/s 33m 82m Up to 300m Up to 400m

16 Gb/s 15m* 35m 100m 125m

40 Gb/s – – 100m 150m

* Not recommended


As interface speeds increase, expect increased usage of

fiber-optic cables and connectors for most interfaces

At higher Gigabit speeds, passive copper cables and

interconnects experience “amplitude loss” and become too

“noisy” except for short distances (within a rack or to

adjacent racks)

Expect to see “active copper” for some higher-speed

connection types

Active copper can go longer distances than passive copper

Active copper is thinner allows for better airflow than passive

copper

Active copper uses more power than passive copper

Cabling Recommendations Future Technology Outlook


Demartek comments on Flash Memory Summit 2014

www.demartek.com/Demartek_Flash_Memory_Summit_2014_Commentary.html

Demartek comments on IDF2014 & NVMe

www.demartek.com/Demartek_Comments_IDF2014_and_NVMe_Thunderbolt_2_USB_3_1.html

Demartek SSD Deployment Guide

www.demartek.com/Demartek_SSD_Deployment_Guide.html

Demartek Video Library - www.demartek.com/Demartek_Video_Library.html

Demartek FC Zone – www.demartek.com/FC

Demartek iSCSI Zone – www.demartek.com/iSCSI

Demartek SSD Zone – www.demartek.com/SSD

Demartek Free Resources

http://www.demartek.com/Demartek_Flash_Memory_Summit_2014_Commentary.html

http://www.demartek.com/Demartek_Comments_IDF2014_and_NVMe_Thunderbolt_2_USB_3_1.html

http://www.demartek.com/Demartek_SSD_Deployment_Guide.html


http://www.demartek.com/FC

http://www.demartek.com/iSCSI

http://www.demartek.com/SSD


Downloadable interactive PDF version now available

Search engine: “storage interface comparison”

www.demartek.com/Demartek_Interface_Comparison.html

Storage Interface Comparison



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Thank You!

Dennis Martin, President

[email protected]

www.linkedin.com/in/dennismartin

(303) 940-7575

www.demartek.com

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